


Sometimes, Things Change

by secretly_a_spacaecadet



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood and Injury, Character Turned Into Vampire, Hurt Lance (Voltron), I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) Being an Idiot, Keith (Voltron) Dies, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Being an Idiot, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Langst, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Roommates, Scared Lance (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Tags Are Fun, Tags Are Hard, Vampire Bites, Vampire Family, Vampire Keith (Voltron), Vampire Lance (Voltron), Vampire Shiro (Voltron), Vampire Turning, Vampires, but its only for like three paragraphs, college age, lance is in collage, shiro is old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:28:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretly_a_spacaecadet/pseuds/secretly_a_spacaecadet
Summary: Lance is turned and abandoned, waking up alone he calls his roommate. Finding out what happens sets off a bunch of events."A gay vampire story" - My GrandmaMy Gift for Astraist
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance & Rachel (Voltron), Lance & Shiro (Voltron), Matt Holt & Keith, Matt Holt & Lance, Matt Holt & Shiro
Comments: 8
Kudos: 32
Collections: Langst Halloween Exchange 2020





	1. Midnight Paperwork

**Author's Note:**

> Dictionary:
> 
> Fledgling: A “baby” vampire; a newborn vampire  
> Sire: creator/person who turned them  
> Bite: Human who is being feed off of  
> Charge: A term for a Sire’s fledglings

Personal Blood Bank Job Information Contract

Welcome to Masquerade.

1\. Freelancing and moonlighting is forbidden  
2\. You must keep yourself clean  
3\. You need to be dressed appropriately  
4\. Masks are provided for privacy as well as safety, you are not required to wear it but it is highly recommended  
5.Do not get involved with any of the clients  
6.Do not drink or do drugs of any kind within twenty-four hours of your shift  
7\. Contracts are a minimum of three years  
8\. You are permitted three to five clients a night  
9\. You are only permitted to work four to six nights a week  
10\. Regular clients are permitted and highly encouraged  
11\. Pay is five hundred dollars a night  
12\. If you are sick you need to wait forty-eight hours before returning  
13\. If you are put on medication for any reason please alert your immediate higher up for time off  
14\. You are permitted to accept tips  
15\. You are to make sure you are in your best health  
16\. You are not permitted to get any new tattoos or piercings during your contracted time  
17\. Your clientele are your lifeline, as long as they are happy you are doing your job and are likely to be accepted if you choose to apply for another contracted year

Your shift will typically start ten to thirty minutes before the sun sets but we will try to be flexible with your schedule. Be sure to bring several snacks for the duration of your shift. If any of the clientele makes you uncomfortable please bring it to your immediate higher ups attention -and if they do not listen do not be afraid to bring it to their higher ups attention- and we will take care of the situation for you. Our employees safety and well being is extremely important.  
-Sign Here: Keith Y. Kogane -Date: April 15th  
-Resigned for Renewal: Keith Y. Kogane -Date: April 16th 

Notes on Aplicee/Employee  
Keith tends to allow his clients to get a little too handsy and if they go what he deems as too far he will attempt to “Rock their Shit” (His own words). Despite his appalling behavior he is still a club favorite. - May 19th 2016  
Keith is the youngest donor on payroll having gotten hired in at the age of seventeen… it is exceedingly rare for someone to be hired in before his eighteenth birthday but he was a rarity. - June 12th 2016  
Keith has broken very few rules throughout the three years he has been hired here and has been accepted for another contract. As a young man who has shown no discrimination between male and female patrons he manages to have one of the highest numbers of regulars. Keith was originally flighty as well as apprehensive but the more he familiarized himself with his setting and the clientele list the more he settled right in and made a few friends with the other donors and made some connections with clientele. - April 15th 2019

We hope to have Keith Kogane on our team for many more years as he is a perfect fit.

+Name: Keith Y. Kogane  
+Stage name: Scarlet K.  
+Birthdate: October 23  
+Age: -17- 20  
+Sexuality: Undisclosed  
+Blood Type: 0+  
+Gender: Male  
+Popularity: High Ranking (Top Male, Second altogether)  
+Years Employed: Three years  
+Good with fledglings: Yes  
+On fledgling Rotation: yes, forth in line  
+Recommended: Yes  
Clientele Restrictions: James Griffin, Matthew “Matt” Holt, and Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane  
Restrictions on his side: None, he is not picky  
Reason Kept: He is good with the clients… he is popular, attractive, and a natural with fledglings  
Reasons Let go:


	2. New Beginnings

Within the week Lance would be turning twenty, true to his past birthdays he made a whole week of it. At the end of the week he would be throwing a little party with just a handful of friends. Lance tended to keep himself clean and out of trouble that could be easily avoided. God knew that Lance had some kind of reputation to uphold. Lance went to parties often but not as often as some of friends did but he was planning on attending several parties leading up to the big day because ‘ _ you’re only nineteen going on twenty once _ ’ and ‘ _ he only wants to have a little fun _ ’. 

Lance was a good-natured kid, a happy go lucky kind of guy who just wanted to have some -a lot- of fun every now and then -often-. Everyone who knew Lance knew that he could get a little too wild at the parties he attended and that’s why he always had a sober friend tailing him, no matter what he could be found with one of his closest friends… this wasn’t a conscious thing that Lance had planned or wanted -he was consistently trying to worm himself away from his personal bodyguard- it was just something that happened. Whoever was tasked with Lance duty had to be strong willed because one of the ways Lance would use to distract them was alcoholic beverages. 

**_~~~_ **

The last thing that happened in Lance’s human life was a blur to the man himself but was the worst kept secret… everyone knew but Lance. It wasn’t clear if Lance didn’t remember because he didn’t want to or couldn’t remember -could have been from the copious amount of drugs and alcohol that had to be in his system or because it was a traumatic event- all the poor boy knew was that he woke up with an intense hunger, it was insatiable by anything in the house… he was scared and starving. Abandoned by his sire within moments of being turned. 

Lance grabbed his phone to call one of his friends using that moment to get a good look at his surroundings, he realized that he didn’t recognize the location he was in. He had never been here before, at least not that he had been able to remember. How could he ask a friend to come get him if he didn’t know where he was? Lance tried to shake that thought free by telling himself that he would figure this all out as he went, all that he knew for certain that he needed to eat before he wasted away. 

Lance decided that he was going to call Keith, he was usually the best person to call in these kinds of situations and this late at night... Keith never seemed to sleep. He knew that Keith always expected to be called after some kind of bender -not that he went on those- or even an emergency and this was definitely an emergency. Keith was usually calm -sometimes sensible- but the best to call. 

Lance reluctantly dialed the overly familiar number. He was praying that Keith would actually answer him. He trusted him… he trusted him the most in this situation, hell Lance only trusted Keith in this situation. He didn’t understand what was going on in his mind so he quit trying to think too much. 

Tapping on his thigh, he bounced with anxiety… he needed to fix this situation as much as he could even though he wasn’t too sure of what the situation even was. He needed Keith to answer him as soon as possible. He couldn’t breathe from the all consuming panic… he needed Keith immediately. 

Keith jolted awake from his phone ringing, it was Lance… years of conditioning himself to wake up if that stupid ringer went off. Just because he woke up with a start didn’t mean he was awake enough to full process everything. His hands fumbled for the phone and after a few moments he grabbed it. He didn’t sound grumpy or grouchy, just concerned and tired as he slurred into the microphone, “Lance, what’s up?”

  
Lance gave Keith no real time to warm up to the topic choosing to slide headfirst into whatever was going on with him. “I need you. I don’t know where I am. I just -I’m lost and scared. I trust you the most right now. Please Keith!” Lance pleaded and Keith had never heard his voice like that… Keith was scared for him. 

“Okay, I’m coming but I need you to send me your location through your phone. Text me that okay? I will get instructions to you.” Keith was already standing up and slipping a set of blue pajama pants that had somehow found their way into his basket. The concern was clouding his brain leaving no place for sleepiness in its wake. “I will get there as soon as I can. Okay?” Keith was firm about it and Lance could tell that he meant it. Keith didn’t even bother putting on a shirt, opting to grab a black hoodie on his way out. 

“Okay, I trust you.” Lance pulled his phone away from his ear so that he could send Keith his location before quickly pushing the speaker back to his ear. “Please hurry!” much to Keith’s dismay the panicked tone that Lance had when he first answered was back and prevalent.

“I will. I’ll be there really soon. I promise. We’ll figure it all out together.” He paused mulling over his words carefully. “Do you want me to stay on the line with you?” 

“Yes please, that would be really nice! Thank you Keith!” Lance spoke with as much excitement as he could muster but with all things considered it wasn’t all that much.

Lance was going crazy from the hunger, his stomach was growling from the intensity of his hunger. He didn’t know what was wrong with him… was this some kind of trip, if it was it’s not like one he has ever experienced. Was he going to die? He couldn’t breathe, his air was caught in the back of his throat causing him to choke. It was a wet cough, his hand clutching his shirt at his chest as he wheezed trying to catch his breath again. 

“Lance, are you okay?” Keith’s concerned voice is loud enough to be heard from the phone’s lousy speaker the few inches it was from his ear… his panic had managed to dislodge it from it’s spot right by his ear. 

“Yeah, yeah… you almost here Keithy?” This was taking way longer then he had expected, was Keith lost… was he actually dead and this was his own personal hell. 

“Yeah, I’m about five minutes away. Sorry buddy you're a lot farther away then I had initially thought. I promise that I’m almost there… trust me?” He asked, feeling a little upset that he needed to ask. It had been a long night for poor Lance and he was going to do whatever he could to ease his conscience at least a little. Whatever was happening to Lance right now was a big deal because normally he didn’t freak out if his arrival was a little slower then he had anticipated. 

“Yeah, I still trust you. Your word is golden. I just don’t know what is happening right now and really need you right now. I called you for a reason!” Lance was trying to keep calm but it wasn’t going well. He still felt like he was losing his mind.

“I’m almost there. Take some deep breaths and think of anything else.” He was gentle, knowing exactly what he needed right now… so he was going to do the best he could despite not being physically there yet. He cared about Lance and his well being so he would do whatever he could within his power -and within reason- to make sure that Lance was well taken care of…. he was the friend who was most often assigned himself Lance’s bodyguard because he couldn’t drink due to his job. Hell he even started the whole ‘ _ Lance needs a bodyguard _ ’ thing and proceeded to plaster himself to his idiot best friend's side whenever they were out partying and Lance was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. 

Lance was sitting in the corner by the time Keith walked into the building. He had found a corner near the entrance so that he could see when he got here. The room was smaller than Keith had expected it to be, he assumed there were more rooms elsewhere in the building but all that he could see was a nice semi-abandoned kitchen.

Lance’s face lit up momentarily when he saw Keith before it twisted up into something else, something akin to fear. Keith smelled so fucking good, it was a differnent smell than normal, not that he didn’t smell good normally… this was a lot more like he smelled yummy like he could just take a bite out of him. 

Lance was horrified by what his brain had supplied him with. Keith was his best friend, he was another human being there was absolutely no reason for him to be thinking this way… what was wrong with him? He knew he wasn’t thinking like that the night before. 

Keith doesn’t seem to be alarmed by Lance as he sunk down onto his knees in front of him so that they were at eye level with each other. He wasn’t afraid of him and that was both a comforting and terrifying thought. Keith was like a lamb and he was willing to go to the slaughter for him. 

Lance shook himself of the thought as he forced himself deeper into the corner in an attempt to get as far away from Keith as he could possibly get. He felt like a cornered animal that was ready to attack, he was so close to Keith who smelled like a three course meal that was ready to be eaten. He needed to get away… this was suffocating him. He would fight these new urges because he didn’t want to hurt Keith, he would do anything to avoid doing anything that would bring harm to him. 

“Lance, buddy what’s wrong?” Keith was confused, he had no clue why he was acting the way he was when he had specifically called for him. He wasn’t upset over it, he knew for him to be acting like that he had to have a reason to act that way. “You can trust me with whatever’s going on inside your head. I promise whatever it is. I won’t judge you and I will help you figure it out.” Keith put all of his feelings towards Lance into the words. Keith would always take care of him, no matter what the costs are.

Lance shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I can’t even think of any words that even come close to describe what’s wrong with me Keith!” Lance’s slender frame shook like a leaf, his breath hitched in the back of his throat as he got an unintentional, strong whiff of Keith’s intoxicating scent.

“Take your time figuring it all out. I’ll be right here, okay? But don’t take too much time, because I still need some rest before work and I bet you're really missing bed right about now.” Keith was feeling a little impatient. Something about this place was making him feel uncomfortable and he wanted to get out of dodge before anything happened. Why did Lance always insist on dragging things out way more than was necessary? He would never understand that about Lance, it was just something that you would get used to with time… and even though he was used to it he absolutely loathed it. 

“I just need a few moments!” Lance snapped at him as he shook his head a little. “Why would I miss my bed?”

“Because you haven’t been home in a few days, we just figured you were out with some of your other friends. You get like that sometimes, disappear for a day or two.” 

“Keith, just last night we were hanging out at that party. I left alone to go home last night but I woke up here this morning also alone.” Lance was confused, he didn’t know why Keith was saying that he was gone another day. 

“It’s been a little over twenty-four hours since I last saw you. Shiro, Hunk, and I texted you in the group chat all night.” Keith paused worrying at his bottom lip. “So you’re missing some time, but that’s okay. I can work with that.” Keith moved to comfort him but he realized that Lance probably wouldn't want him to touch him so he pushed them to his sides… but Lance still knew that Keith was there for him. “If you want to talk to me about what’s happening, it would help if I had all of the information. I promise it will be okay if you stumble over your descriptors and explanations.” 

Lance took a deep breath, sucking the air deep into his gut. “Okay, are you sure. I only ask because it’s a lot and I feel a little crazy right now just thinking about it.” Lance didn’t tell him that he felt like he was losing his mind while he lived whatever this nightmare was.

“I am sure Lance. I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that I wanted to hear. I meant that I wanted to help you figure this out. Whatever is happening to you is a big deal to me too.” Keith smiled at him before testing out a joke, “Remember I have to live with your moody ass.” 

It was a bad joke, Keith was always terrible when it came to jokes but no matter how bad they were they always managed to put a smile on Lance’s face… luckily this time was no different. Keith was pleased that it worked. 

With a snort he shook his head slightly. “Your humor is dry as always Keith, please never change.” He meant that, Keith was an asshole a lot of the time and yeah they bickered often and while they were roommates they got on each others nerves a lot, they also pulled pranks on each other but no matter what they always had each others back… and for that Lance was eternally thankful for. No matter what Lance always had someone like Keith in his corner and Keith always had someone like Lance in their corner… it came in handy at an alarming frequency. 

Keith gently goaded him on, “Go on Lance, I’m ready whenever you're ready.” 

Lance nodded his head. “One moment! Words are difficult and I really need to focus because I don’t wanna fuck this up… you were right when you said this was a big deal.” Keith went to speak but Lance silenced him by holding his index finger in the air, he knew that if Keith said anything he would chicken out again. “I’m really hungry and I’ve tried eating good but it’s done nothing to quell my hunger.” Lance pauses for a moment, just long enough to get his brain back in line. “And Keith, you smell really good… but not a normal kind of good, it’s like a mouthwatering kind of good.” Lance licked his lips at the thought before trying to shake his head to remove the thought from his brain. “It’s just a bad trip right? I mean it’s the only thing that makes sense. Just a bad trip making me lose my mind.”

“Lance, no. Did you meet with someone after you left the party?” Keith cursed, he shouldn’t have opted to stay back with their other drunk friend, should’ve stayed at his side or at the very least made him stay with him and not taken his word that he was okay. This was all his fault and he knew it… he had let one of the big things that he was protecting him from happen.

“No, not that I can remember at least. I left to go home alone but I woke up here!” Lance was stressing every word to try and get his point across. “I have no god-damn clue what happened in between Keith! Why do you keep asking me like my answer is going to change? Do you know something that I don’t?” Okay so that backfired and Keith hadn’t expected that to happen because he was asking a simple question. He should have expected him to lash out because he was scared.

“I may have a theory. I don’t know anything more than you… all the facts I have come straight from you and the fact that we all assumed you had gone on another bender! I would have already told you if I knew anything else, I promise!” Keith was firm on this, he really didn’t know anything more and if he did Lance would be the first to know. Keith always tried to stay true to his word, no matter how trivial or unimportant it seemed. He was an honest and good kid, it was always worse when it came to Lance. Lance always brought out both the best and the worst in him, he always had and always would… the jury was still out on whether or not this was a good or bad thing. 

“Please share because I’m kind of freaking out here!” Lance needed Keith to give him some kind of reassurance. 

Keith shook his head slightly keeping his lips pursed. “No, not yet. Is there anything you're not telling me?” He asked, trying not to sound like he was accusing Lance of anything. 

“Not that I can think of.” Lance’s head shook slightly, it was more for him then Keith.

Now that Keith was sure that Lance wasn’t just avoiding the conversation and he was certain it was a case of Lance just couldn’t remember… he’s sharing all he knew, it was a thought that scared Keith just a little. He woke up alone, scared, and hungry but he couldn’t fix that problem. Keith had a theory but unfortunately he wasn’t sure if Lance was being completely honest, he knew that Lance didn’t blame him one bit for being a little weary about his honesty because Lance had a bit of a tendency to keep things to himself and it was never good when he kept things to himself. Usually when he kept things to himself it was big things and Keith could tell this was a big deal to him.

“Let me see your neck and wrist,” Keith spoke suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence with a start. Lance jumped a little, a soft thump audible from his head bumping the wall. 

Lance looked at Keith like he had grown a second head, that was such an odd thing for him to ask. Did Keith see something that Lance hadn’t seen? Now he was panicking a little but because how would this be anything else like that. He didn’t know why his wrist and neck was an important thing right now, it seemed pretty relevant to Keith though so it  _ has  _ to matter. 

“Lance, do you trust me?” Keith asked softly. He needed to know if Lance trusted him with this being such a sensitive scenario. 

“Yeah, I trust you but it's just a little confusing because I don’t understand the relevance.” His voice breathy, he was very confused by what Keith needed. 

Keith didn’t want to not tell him why it was relevant but at the same time he knew if he said anything about it and it wasn’t true Lance was sure to panic worse then he already… and Lance was the type to panic over things that never really made sense to Keith so he wasn’t going to accidentally cause that. Keith didn’t want to see him in that state any longer today. 

“Just humor me.” Keith said with a slight shrugged trying to seem completely nonchalant. He hoped that Lance wouldn’t read him that well, he couldn’t handle that right now. They could get through this but it would only work if they went through this together.

“Yeah, yeah.” He nodded with a slight smile, it was clearly a forced smile.

He leaned slightly forward, his left hand reaching up to grab the collar of his pale blue shirt, he tilted his neck from side to side to show off his whole neck. The right side of his neck had two puncture holes confirming Keith’s suspicions. Lance rolled up both the sleeves to the long sleeved shirt, he held out his arms to show him both of his wrists, a new thin pink scar that hadn’t been there just days before. Lance had been turned and left for dead by his sire, something that his wonderful friend didn’t deserve, not one bit. Keith knew all the signs because of his job. Being abandoned by a sire was immensely rare and was only done in severe cases in rejection seems imminent but even then they tried for days… whoever Lance’s sire, they were cruel, a fledgling needs their sire to help them get acquainted to their new life. In the old days vampires would turn someone and abandon them so that when they woke up they would wreak havoc as a kind of game… was this what Lance was, a pawn of sorts?

Keith was scared for his friend, he was going to have to tell him something before he became a hazard. Lance needed something so that he calmed down… he wasn’t qualified for this. He was helpless, he couldn’t help his friend if he didn’t know how to tell him or even what to tell him. 

“Keith? Buddy? What’s wrong?” Lance asked in a hushed, hurried tone… he was just trying to spit the words out. He felt if they set in his head much longer it would hurt and confuse him even more. 

Keith shook his head slightly, his brain catching up with the fact that he had been silently staring at Lance. “Sorry, I’m okay just taking a moment to think… didn’t mean to panic you.” He paused for a moment taking a deep breath. “Have I ever told you what my job is?” Keith’s voice was shaky, he wasn’t ready to tell him what was going on but he had no real choice. 

“Something about a club, that’s all that you’ve told me.” Lance shook his head trying to figure out what that had to do with anything to do with what was happening to him. He needed to know why so he had to ask. “But what does that have to do with anything?” 

“Shh, I’ll explain.” Keith facepalmed mentally, more at himself then at Lance. “I need to call work and see if they can send someone to help you because this isn’t something I can really help you with. Shiro should already be there, he can help. If you want I can call him. I promise this will all be okay.” 

Lance was reluctant, but ultimately Keith knew how to help and if Shiro was the best way to go then it was. “Okay, I trust you. I know Shiro’s a good guy to call if we ever need him and if you think we need him then we do. You know something don’t you?” Lance’s tone was almost accusing. 

“Yeah and Shiro will be able to walk you through a few things. I’m not sure how to do it. Give me a few minutes to talk to Shiro and get him here, it’s okay. We’ve got this.” 

  
“Yeah we do.” Lance mumbled in agreement. 

Keith pulled his phone out of his back left pocket taking a moment to send Shiro their location over text before dialing Shiro’s number, he had his number memorized by now. The phone only rang twice before Shiro picked up, he always answered faster when he saw Keith’s name pop up on his phone.

Shiro’s voice was soft. “Hey Keith, why are you calling? You know your shift is in about an hour.” He sounded worried, he knew whatever it was, it was bad enough to warrant a phone call when they would be seeing each other soon, Keith never really called unless he had to.

“Yeah, about that… I won’t be in tonight. Lance and I need you to come to the address I sent to you. You’re the only one who can come.” Keith paused for a moment. He needed to drop the code word, that would explain the issue but he needed to move away from Lance so that he didn’t need to explain what it meant to Lance. He rose to his feet and walked to the farthest corner of the small room to be away from Lance just for a moment. Even though he was as far from Lance as he could get he still practically whispered into the microphone, “Yeah, by the way Rose called this morning! It was out of the blue too.”    


“OH! I’ll be there in like ten minutes.” A sense of urgency crept into his voice as he rushed his way to Keith and Lance’s location. “Don’t let him feed just yet, I need to talk to him first and see how he is.” Keith knew this wasn’t good, Shiro was worried so this was incredibly fucked up. 

“I know, I haven’t and I won’t. He’s fighting against it so hard so I worry that if you take too long something will happen.”

“I’m letting someone know I will be late and I’ll be there soon. Give Lance your phone, now.” Shiro didn’t intend to sound so demanding but he was worried about how Lance was dealing so far… knowing Lance he was likely a mess.

Keith hung his head, muttering something to himself before he dropped quickly back down onto his knees in front of Lance. He handed his phone and Lance reluctantly took it, avoiding touching Keith at all. He pushed the phone to his left ear, holding it firmly in place so that it wouldn’t budge any. 

“Shiro?” Lance asked softly, normally he was louder and more rambunctious and happier so seeing the difference in his behaviour was very discerning but Shiro was just relieved that he was still alive. Things could have ended so much worse then it had… a cop could’ve been calling his mother telling them that he was dead. 

“Yeah, it’s me. I’ll be there soon. How are you feeling?” Shiro’s tender voice, he was trying to ease Lance into loosening up some when he got there. 

“Hungry, scared, and ready to go home.” He was quiet, all he wanted to do was go home. And Shiro just felt bad for the poor kid, Lance didn’t deserve this. 

This wasn’t the first time he had to help someone go through the change, he had turned someone shortly after he had turned himself. It was a mistake on his part, he had overfed and had to turn them to save them. Keith knew this, not what happened because that was held close to his chest but he knew that he had turned someone and that’s why Keith had called him.

“I know, when I get there I’m going to help you. I promise. I’m pulling up now.”

Shiro recognized this location, it was an old abandoned house, when it was first bought or built it was a popular party place that vampires frequented there. Shiro was unfortunately turned in one of the backrooms. He thought this building wasn’t used anymore but he was wrong… but there was no recent reported activity in the area, which wasn’t necessarily a good or bad thing it could either mean that they were just trying to be secretive and under the radar or that they had gone rogue. Based on what had happened with Lance he was concerned about a rogue sire, they could want him back under their control… Shiro would fight if they tried to get him back, it would never happen. He would keep Lance safe no matter what, Shiro would be his makeshift sire, a replacement… he could lean on Shiro no problem, he knew he would need that in time. Shiro would make it obvious, he would make a bond with him, just one that would help him with the transition into his new life. 

Shiro hung up the phone, a mutual friend -the person he turned to save- kept him up to date with modern technology so that he could continue to fit in. Lance tended to tease him for being an  _ old man _ but he didn’t know the half of it because it’s never really been disclosed or expressly stated to or even around Lance… Keith never spoke about -in depth- his job or anything to do with the other world that he was in, he claimed it was for safety but he never specified if it was for his own safety or Lance’s, if it was for Lance’s safety it just blew right back into their faces. 

Shiro swung the door open with force, the door giving a creak as it opened, the noise loud from general disuse. Shiro remembered how nice the building looked in its prime and it hurt his heart to see the building like this, in disrepair to the point it was stripped to its bones in some places. The vibrant colored furniture was either missing, had faded to a dull and drab colors, was covered in dirt, or was destroyed but the lights worked. The place had obviously fallen into severe disrepair from years of disuse, but it wasn’t too far beyond saving. He couldn’t even remember what family had owned it back then and if they still owned it or if it had switched owners since then. 

Being back in this building brought back memories both good and bad. He could handle being here with Lance and Keith here. He wouldn’t let being here mess with his head and ability to help Lance. He shook his head to pull him out of his stupor and moved out of the foyer towards the kitchen. 

The sight Shiro was greeted with threw his system for a loop, Keith was sitting on his knees in front of Lance whispering to him to keep him calm, stuff he felt he had no permission to hear. Lance had himself pressed against the wall, he was trying to keep as much distance between himself and Keith, between the pair there was nearly an entire arms length of uninhabited space. Lance’s eyes were blown wide, his teeth worrying at his lower lip. 

Shiro cleared his throat. It was obvious that neither of his friends had heard him enter, not that he blamed either of them for that… Keith was focused on Lance and his well being while Lance was dealing with a lot. Shiro could tell that Lance was fighting his instincts and winning. Keith was being a good friend to Lance right now, albeit he was good with fledglings but he had never been in a situation where they didn’t know they had turned and he had never had to deal with a fledgling that he knew personally. Keith could hold his own and Shiro knew and respected that but if Keith ever needed him he would always come running, no matter what. 

Lance’s head snapped to look at him and Keith threw himself backwards as if he thought he would get in trouble for being that close to Lance. If it wasn’t for the severity of what was happening it would be kind of hilarious the way Keith landed on his back. 

“Lance, can I sit beside you?” Shiro asked softly, he was already moving to go sit by him so that he wasn’t standing in the doorway just looking in.

“Yeah, you don’t smell good like Keith does so you can get closer to me then he can.” Lance shot Keith an apologetic look. He felt bad about the whole thing even though it wasn’t his fault at all. 

Shiro dropped down beside him, his legs crossed comfortably in front of him. “What has Keith told you so far?” He asked Lance, holding his hand out to sush Keith before he could speak.

Keith made an indigent squawk. Once his moment was over Lance spoke, “Only that you could explain and help me..” he paused for a moment, “And that his job was involved.” Shiro could tell that Lance was still trying to process what was happening with the very little information that he had. 

“Keith filled me in that you don’t remember what happened and that’s okay. I’m going to start with something easier to process. Does that sound good?” 

Lance nodded picking at both of his arms. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.” He smiled biting his lower lip again. 

Shiro thought for a brief moment. ”Do you believe in any kind of supernatural beings?”

He nodded, he grew up in a family that supernatural beings were a cultural staple. He liked to think that even without his family being spiritual he would still have some of the solid core beliefs that he had been raised with. 

“Do you believe in Vampires?” Shiro decided that maybe a more direct approach would be more helpful than keeping it vague. 

“Well kind of. I mean I’m not sure about the existence of some of them. I could see how they could potentially exist. Why?”   


“Well, you know how you always tease me for being old, well I am old, I was turned at twenty about fifty years ago. That would make me around seventy.”

“What are you?” He asked softly. He didn’t want to believe it, he needed him to confirm that Shiro was saying what he thought he was. 

“I’m a vampire.” He was gentle but firm.

“Okay, you're a vampire. Is Keith a vampire?”

“No, he’s human. He works at a club for vampires. He’s pretty much a walking blood bank.” Shiro sent Keith an apologetic look, he felt bad that he referred to it that way… it felt so deeming, Keith knew that he didn’t mean it like that. 

“That’s why he smells so good.” Lance says putting some of the pieces together.

“And why nothing is making you feel full. We’ll get you a bite and Keith will stay with you to make sure you're good. He’s great with fledglings. I’ll help you navigate all this but we need to take it slow, right now it’s still a shock to his system. Keith did the right thing calling me, I don’t think he could explain things to you like I can saying that I have both gone through the process myself and had to put someone through it twice… sadly only once was successful.” 

“I need a moment,” Lance said with a little gasp. “Keith could have warned me a little more.”

“I told him to wait, I’m sorry.” Shiro was sincere about it, he hadn’t thought about it that way… Keith would have eased him into this so that it could have been less of a shock then it was. 

“It’s okay Shiro, I’m not that upset… it just might have helped some.” He shrugged off the pain that he was feeling. 

“We need to get you a bite, you could come to the club.” Shiro offered to try and be helpful. 

“I just want to go home.” Lance whimpered. He missed his bed, his room, and his home more than he cared to admit. 

“You need to eat no matter what.” Shiro was firm. “You can go home after that, I promise.” 

“I don’t want to go to some weird club that I’ve never been to before right now. Sorry.” Lance didn’t want to see him like that, especially not people he didn’t know at a club he had never been in before.

“He can feed on me. A sire will normally have someone there ready to be the first bitel. I am here and I am willing.” Keith spoke suddenly, no one was ready to hear his voice, especially Lance. 

“Are you sure, Keith?” Lance asked, his voice cracking slightly. He gulped trying to keep himself calm so that he didn’t launch himself at Keith. 

“Are you sure, Keith?” It was Shiro's turn to ask and question him… it was his dad voice so it wasn’t good. “Remember you live with him and sometimes fledglings can become obsessed, and it’s usually worse with their first.” Shiro reminded him, he knew that Keith knew all of this. But Keith couldn’t care less about that, he was stubborn and in this moment all that really mattered was Lance.

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s a risk that I’m willing to take, I trust him even if it’s stupid. I mean he just turned and he has shown enough self control to not take a bite out of me. Hell he has been trying to keep himself as far from me as possible. I trust him.” Keith was honest about how he felt about their fledgling friend. He knew that Lance, even in this state, would never intentionally hurt him. “Just don’t report me.” 

“Why would Shiro report you?” Lance was baffled by the fear of being reported saying that they weren’t even at work so why would it be an issue. 

“It goes against the contract he signed when he first started working there.” Shiro told Lance before turning to Keith. “Anything with Lance will be kept from work for now. I’m his sire, that’s how they will think of our bond and we will tell them nothing else. But him feeding you can only be a one time thing. Okay?” Shiro was firm when telling Keith how they would have to tread with things dealing with Lance.

Both Keith and Lance nodded in agreement even though Lance didn’t know what half of what he had said meant. Lance knew that what was being said was serious and permanent… but his thoughts were getting hazier the longer he went without food. 

“Lance, I’m going to have you feed here. Then we’ll leave, too many memories here.” Shiro’s voice was solemn as if he was trying to keep the ghosts of his past out of his mind, out of his head. Now that Lance thought about it, it was kind of obvious that he was having a hard time being here. 

Lance smiled up at Shiro. “What kind of memories?” His voice was gentle, full of wonder and genuine pure curiosity. All Lance wanted to know was more about one of his good friends and surrogate sire. Both Keith and Shiro were enigmas of a sort when it came to private matters.

Even though Lance had known Shiro for  _ years  _ he didn't know all that much about him. Shiro and keep things close to themselves, they were almost always tight-lipped when it came to personal matters. Lance kind of hated it, but he was kind of someone who shared information like that freely.

Shiro pursed his lips together trying to figure out how to tell him or if he had to tell him or even if he should. He took a deep breath he was about to drop something big. "I was turned here in one of the bedrooms. I was about your age but this place looked a whole lot better back then."

"Oh, I didn't know!" Lance said softly, "Okay, how do I, uhm, 'take a bite' out of Keith. I mean I don't have teeth sharp enough to break his skin!" Lance was begging to panic yet again.

"When you go to bite him your fangs will extend, you should bite his wrist, it's a lot safer. Neck bites tend to go wrong a-lot faster then on a wrist. You should ask Matt sometime.”

Lance nodded, understanding what he’s being told. “That makes a lot of sense.” Matt being like him and Shiro somehow made complete sense to him and so did his fangs. He turned his attention to Keith. “Can I have your wrist?” he was gentle as he asked. He was still so unsure of himself, this was all so new and he didn’t want to hurt Keith… he never wanted to hurt Keith. 

Keith gave him his arm immediately, like he wasn’t scared of him. Lance moved to him and pulled his arm to his mouth, placing his mouth on his arm. He felt his fangs extend and sink into his flesh, into his veins. Once he took his fill, he pulled away, and wiped the excess blood from the corner of his mouth. 

“Now lick the wound to help it knit itself closed faster,” Shiro was gentle as he walked him through it.” 

Lance did as Shiro had told him. He looked up to see if Keith was doing okay. He gave him a weak smile, he was feeling a little drowsy but he should be fine to drive home. 

“Can we go home now?” Lance whimpered. He hated what he just had to do, hated that he was now going to have to do that consistently to survive, in general he felt bad that Keith was called and his first bite… this was sure to blow up in their face, Lance was sure of it.

“Yeah, Keith’s going to be following you there.” Shiro said waving him off, surely to check in on Keith alone.

Lance stood up, wiping his pants off. He rushed out what he assumed was the front of the building… it was the direction that both Shiro and Keith had come from. He headed out the door before immediately turning back to go inside. 

Keith looked up curiously. “Why did you come back?”

“I just realized that I have to ride back with you Keith.”

Keith nodded and stood up so that he could get Lance home. He could tell that Lance just wanted to go home and he was going to get him home as fast as he could. After the past few days Keith felt that Lance deserved to go home and get his rest more than anything else.


	3. Help!

Keith and Lance made their way into the small two bedroom apartment. Lance felt as if the building was suffocating him and he had just gotten him. Keith smelled so good to him and having Keith as his first bite probably didn’t do them any favors. Lance could hear his heartbeat from across the room, not that it was that big of a room… but it was driving him wild, he wanted to pin him to the wall and feel his pulsating heartbeat on his tongue, wanting to taste his life tongue. He was hating his new urges so much and could only hope that he could get used to it with time.

Lance rushed to his bedroom to get as far away from what was causing him grief, he was in agony because of his roommate. Keith didn’t really talk to him but wondered what Lance’s problem was… it was a good thing that Keith didn’t say anything because Lance wasn’t ready to talk about it. 

Once Lance was in his room he didn’t know to calm his racing mind, he wanted Keith… wanted to taste him again. Was this what Shiro had meant when he said Lance could become a little obsessed with his first bite? Was Keith even safe continuing to live with him? The last thing he wanted was to hurt Keith or to even put his life in Jeopardy. But he would deal with this later which meant he would have to talk to him and probably so many others later. 

Lance threw himself onto his bed. He hadn’t realized how much he missed his soft mattress. He sunk down onto his bed and grabbed his dark blue fuzzy blanket, immediately he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and right under his chin. He clutched it so tight that his hands started to lose all feeling in an attempt to soothe his unsteady emotions. 

He was going to be okay, he had to remind himself of that… he was probably going to have to constantly remind himself of it. He felt so out of place and in danger. His world was crashing down on him and he couldn’t stand it one bit. He wasn’t one who accepted danger as a reality and this was putting him there, he was a hazard. 

Keith wasn’t scared of him which made him feel so much better about this new reality. He was also uncomfortable with the knowledge that Keith wasn’t afraid of him which gave him the desire to keep himself as far away from Keith as they could get so that Keith was safe. Keith meant so much to him, more than he could ever say. They could get through this together just fine… they had to, Lance could handle this even if it felt like the opposite… Lance was sure of his ability to resist Keith’s perfection, even if it was a little premature. 

Lance just tried not to think because the thoughts were all encompassing of Keith, all he could think of was how good his roommate had tasted earlier and the thrill he had gotten when he could taste and feel Keith’s life on his tongue. It was driving him wild knowing that he was just in the other room, close enough that he could go and taste him again if he wanted… and he wanted to so bad, more than he had ever wanted anything else in his whole life but he knew that he couldn’t, no knew that he shouldn’t. He knew that if he went in there and told Keith that he was still hungry that he would give him more, he wouldn't stop until he knew Lance was satisfied but at the same time Lance knew that he didn’t deserve it. He couldn’t use him as his sole food source, because he cared… and because if anything happened to him he would never forgive himself.

Lance now understood what Shiro had meant by obsession. He wanted more, he wanted Keith. He resolved to just not leave his room until he was completely sure he could control himself around his roommate. He didn’t want to hurt him, no matter what. Keith’s safety was number one priority. 

He was sure that Shiro would be coming over after his shift but Lance wasn’t sure when he would be getting off. Lance prayed that it would be soon, that the shift wasn’t too long. Lance didn’t know if he could handle much more of this. 

Lance knew that he couldn’t do this alone. He would need to lean on Shiro far more than he wanted. Lance was still afraid but for a very different reason but this reason had a name and it was Keith  _ fucking  _ Kogane… and Lance would die for him if he had to, he wouldn’t feel bad about it. He cared about Keith’s safety.

Lance stared blankly at the wall, he was trying not to think about how much his little world had changed in the last few hours. His world had been flipped completely upside down without any real rhyme or reason. Thinking about ‘ _ what ifs _ ’ and the ‘why mes’ was way too exhausting for him to deal with. Lance knew that he couldn’t change what had happened no matter how hard he wished, so no amount of trying would have any kind of effect on the past. He knew there was nothing that he could do other than wallow in self-pity, Lance had earned that much. 

Lance could tell that Keith was still worried about him, Lance could hear his breathing even from the distance he had put between them. Lance felt as if he didn’t deserve that, all of his worry. He made a mistake and it ended his natural born life… Lance had to deal with that. He felt like a monster, undeserving of all love. 

Keith was worried about Lance; this was a big deal for Lance if he didn’t realize it. Keith felt this was something that he shouldn’t go through alone but Keith still respected Lance’s privacy and desire to feel alone even if Keith felt shut out and completely unwanted. Lance would be fine, he was sure of it. 

Keith couldn’t stay still, no matter how hard he tried. The worry was eating away at his mind, he wanted to do more for his friend then he currently was. Keith could and should be doing so much more for him. He knew he couldn’t leave the apartment building, who knew what Lance would do if he was left alone. He knew that couldn’t be a good thing, if he was left alone in a building full of unsuspecting humans, people who could feed him and keep him alive and well for days, or put him on a bender. Keith knew that even though Lance felt as if he was out of control with Keith here but he knew that his presence was keeping him more in check then he realized. 

Lance was spiraling, Keith knew fledglings always mentioned feeling like that but it was harder for Keith to handle when it came to Lance and it had to be because he knew and cared about him. Keith felt nearly as out of control as he thought Lance did. Shiro had about two more hours and time felt like it was dragging… Keith knew that he really couldn’t do much to help Lance without Shiro there as a buffer to ensure Keith’s safety. All three of the boys agreed that Keith’s safety was important, Shiro and Lance agreeing that it was the number one priority while Keith felt that it wasn’t nearly important… Lance’s safety was Keith’s number one. 

The minutes ticked on, the clock in Lance’s room was agonizingly loud in the poor fledgling’s ears. He couldn’t take it anymore, grabbing the baby blue clock off the nightstand in his hand he flipped it slightly in his hand looking it over. After a moment of holding the clock in his hand, feeling the weight of it in his hands before chucking it against the wall with enough force to shatter the clock. He tried not to mind the sound it made when it connected with the wall.

Keith jumped a little when an unknown object had hit something. After a moment Keith let himself calm back down slightly but staying on edge, he figured that it was just Lance having a moment, he tried not to think about it too much. He knew it was sure to happen again, Lance was still adjusting. Keith knew that he was still fragile and would be for a while.. Keith didn’t mind it all that much, Keith would fight for Lance and he wouldn’t intentionally do anything to upset Lance. He cared so much for his fledgling friend, he always had and always would, no matter what. 

Lance was still so afraid, he didn’t know how to deal with this. He would never know how to deal with this, this wasn’t something that you could just suddenly handle overnight, not something that you would immediately know how to handle. All Lance wanted was to scream and not stop screaming until he could no longer make a sound… this is the opposite of what he had expected or even what he had planned for his life. But, Lance could handle this, he knew he could… he just wasn’t ready to make new life plans so soon after figuring out what he wanted to do with his life. Lance was sure that if he needed to talk to anyone about it Shiro or even Matt would be a good option but that would be akin to admitting defeat and Lance wasn’t ready to admit defeat yet. Defeat means that he’s given up and he’s not ready to give up quite yet… he still had a lot of fight left in him and he was going to go until he was completely out of fight. 

Lance wanted to scream, he wanted to punch things and he wanted to cry. He needed a way to get the pain out… the betrayal be felt in his chest unmistakable and without known reason. Lance didn’t know why he felt betrayed, nothing had happened to him that was deserving of the emotions that he was currently feeling. He knew this wasn’t Shiro or Keith’s or  _ even  _ Matt’s fault that he was turned, they were just doing the best that they could with the cards that life had tragically dealt them. Shiro didn’t deserve to be turnt at twenty and accidentally kill his best friend and have to turn him to save his life… and Keith, precious Keith didn't deserve to work as a personal blood bank, he deserved so much more. Keith deserved the whole world and then some, he didn’t deserve a world in which he willingly allowed vampires to feed off him. His job was to allow vampires to feed off him to survive… who fucking did that, obviously Keith.

Lance sat up with a sudden lurch. He couldn’t breathe… did he even need to breathe anymore? He didn’t know what was up or down, left or right anymore. Rising up off his bed he decided pacing was the best option to calm his overactive mind.

He caught his reflection in his full length mirror, it was in the back of his white wooden closet door. Lance didn’t look like himself anymore, he looked ten times worse then he felt. He looked paler than he had ever looked in his life, his eyes slightly sunken in, his bright blue eyes dull, lacking the usual sparkle… he just looked dead. How could he still see his reflection looking back at himself, staring himself down as if he was some kind of ghost in his own home, in his own room. This wasn’t supposed to happen, this wasn’t supposed to be what his life would turn out. 

Before he could curb his anger, his fist flew forward and made contact with his mirror. The whimsical shattering sound was far too surreal. He couldn’t prepare himself for the sound in time, it was unfairly pretty but way too loud for his overly sensitive ears and his knuckles stung, he shook his hand with wonder and a slight twinkle in his eyes as he watched the wound stitch itself back closed. This was something that he hadn’t expected but it was something that he had needed.

Lance looked up and saw his destroyed image in the broken mirror, blood smeared on his lower lip and his pupils blown wide from the thrill of it all. He hated it, hated the monster he had become, the monster that he looked like when he himself reflected in the mirror. He pulled the mirror by the baby blue frame from his door and chucked it against the wall by the silver clock that he had destroyed not that much earlier.

By the time this was over it was possible that Lance wouldn’t have anything left standing and his room destroyed but in the end it would be worth it. All Lance needed was to get all these strong emotions out of his system… it hurt so much, more than he ever thought it could. Being like this was hurting and he couldn’t pinpoint what was causing the most pain, this was a big feat that he felt incapable of being completed because his feelings were too big for him to comprehend. This was a mountain that he didn’t know how to climb but he would figure it out because he was resourceful and stubborn but he wouldn’t ask for help before he actually needed it. 

Lance leaned his whole body weight against the solid wood door. Letting his body sag, relaxing against the door breathing heavily. He let his body drop to the floor with a thud, he leaned his head against the door, with his knees tucked under his chin pressed firmly against his chest in a way that hardly allowed his chest to move with every forced breath that he took. His eyes were stinging with unshed tears… he could tell that he needed to cry but he didn’t want to cry because that would make him feel weaker then he already did, then he was. Lance couldn’t remember a time when he felt so small and frail before now, this wasn’t something he could just graze over. He couldn’t just forget about this overnight, even though that’s all he wanted was to just go back to everything as usual. 

Tears flowed freely from his eyes, he fought to hold them back but he failed… his cheeks soaked with all the tears that he had needed to cry. He buried his face in his knees, his pants getting soaking wet. This place didn’t feel right, everything felt so wrong, but it was just slightly off… even though this was his apartment, his bedroom with all of his memories. All of his stuff in various places and some of the stuff was out of place from his meltdown. He would be okay, he didn’t deserve it but he would pull through… he always did, no matter what happened.

Keith’s heart was beating out of his chest, worry was consuming him when there was finally silence in Lance’s room after he had been clearly throwing stuff around back there. Lance could hear Keith’s heart beating and it was driving him mad, he needed -no he wanted- to taste Keith again. Lance tried to shake the thought from his head but he could not think about his roommate and his desire in that manner. Keith was his friend and roommate first and foremost and it would do him some good to keep that in the back of his head no matter how good he did or didn’t smell. He could handle his weakness, he just needed to get a handle on his new hormones and instincts. He knew it would take some time and a lot of conscious effort but he could do it, he had to do it for Keith. 

Keith knew that he shouldn’t go and check on him but he couldn’t help himself… it was Lance. Keith knew he would be fine, he trusted Lance as he always had. Lance wasn’t suddenly some kind of monster because of something that should never have happened to him in the first place. Lance deserved the world, he always had and this wasn’t going to change that one bit.

Without intending Keith's hand reached to knock on the top of Lance’s door, the second he had done it he knew that he would be shooed away but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He needed to know if Lance was still in his room and doing okay. He didn’t know why it was so important to him. It had to be that it was Lance… it was Lance who was hurting and didn’t deserve to be, he somehow felt at fault, and he knew that he couldn’t help him and Shiro couldn’t help either. It felt that Lance didn’t want their help and Keith was unsure why he didn’t want their help.

“Go away Keith!” Lance groaned outwardly. He was curling tighter in on himself in somewhat of an attempt to get farther away from Keith as he could even though there was a solid wood door between the two of them. 

“Lance! I just wanted to be sure that you were still in there and doing okay. Are you? I mean obviously you’re in there… you know what I am trying to ask.” Keith asked quickly, trying to make sure he got it all out without bothering him too long. He didn’t want to stand there and bother Lance longer then he definitely needed to because the very last thing Keith needed or wanted to do was piss the fledgling off.

“Yeah, I’m as good as I can get.” Lance grumbled, Keith was doing a terrible job at keeping Lance happy. All Lance wanted was for him to go away and leave him alone. Couldn’t Keith tell he didn’t want to be bothered, that he just wanted to be left alone right now. He needed to be left to his own devices so that he could wallow in his self-pity and be semi-self-destructive because he deserved that much. 

“Are you sure?” Keith asked gently, trying to push him so that he would talk just a little more. Keith was concerned that Lance was being dishonest just to get him to go and get him to leave him alone, it was a valid concern.

“I will be just fine, don’t worry too much.” Lance hoped that this would be enough to get Keith to go away and just leave him alone already. 

“Do you promise?” Keith asked softly, the concern still heavy in his voice. 

“Yes, I promise!” Lance was exasperated, this conversation was dragging and irritating him. “How much longer until Shiro will be over?” Lance decided that maybe if he changed the topic Keith would leave faster. 

“About half-an-hour and he will be here. He told me that he was planning on sticking around for a few days, staying on the couch.” Keith paused for a breath moment, taking a deep breath before continuing, “Is that okay? We figured it would be the best to help with your transitioning.” Keith was sincere. 

“Well yeah, I figured that was what would be happening. Will we have Matt too?” 

“Nah, but he knows Shiro will be out. He might come over but we all thought he would be too much.” Keith is honest as he gets Lance completely back up to speed. 

“Okay. I’m going to take a nap.” Lance pauses, thinking over his next words over carefully so that he doesn’t upset Keith. “You know, you don’t have to stand here and watch over me? I’ll be fine.” Lance knew Keith, knew what he was doing and he had a feeling that he knew why he was doing it. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll be in the living room so when you need me, I will be there… when Shiro gets here he’ll have an idea of what you’ll need to do.” Keith paused for a short moment. “I’m sorry that I’m not much help. You're stuck with someone who smells really good to your new senses but I really do care.” 

“I know Keith, I just don’t want to hurt you so  _ please  _ Keith.” Lance pleaded. All he needed was to take time to get used to the new smells, especially Keith. 

“Okay, I’m leaving now, be safe.” Keith tried to just shrug it off and leave it be.

All Keith could handle was to walk back to the living room in silence. Keith bit at his lower lip, picking at the skin on and around his lips. He knew that if he accidentally drew blood it might not end too well with Lance there, but he couldn’t help but bite the skin there… he was using it as a means to calm himself back down somewhat. He knew that Lance was struggling with all of the changes and he wanted to suffer through it all alone. Keith was hating Lance’s need to to go through this virtually alone, he didn’t seem to want any help at all. Keith just wanted to help him.

Keith looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall behind the TV. The time kept ticking on, Shiro should be here soon, maybe he could get Lance to talk. Keith knew that if Lance would just talk to him it would help him some. All Keith wanted was for Lance to be okay. 

Lance would be okay, he had to be… Keith had to reassure himself, Shiro would be here soon and that would help. Keith was hoping that Shiro would help Lance a lot more than he ever could. Keith was worried but he needed to keep that as close to his chest as possible because Lance wouldn’t want to know he was being worried about it. 

Deciding that he needed to eat something, he hadn’t eaten since last night at the latest. Keith knew this wasn’t good or healthy but he couldn’t help it. Feeding without food would make them light-headed so when Keith was prepared to feed at the club he would eat a full meal of sorts, what it consisted of depended on the day. 

Keith took his iron supplements and vitamins before moving to get a full look at his ingredients. Today was a lazy day, he would probably just grab a bowl of his favorite cereal or make some ramen in the microwave. From living on his own -well he lived with Lance- he had learned how to make at least thirty different meals in the microwave alone. 


	4. Talking Helps?

There was a loud knock on the front door, it was head splitting and out of the blue -he should have really expected it. It had to be Shiro but Keith couldn’t be sure, he’s had some “ _people_ ” from the club show up uninvited before and he couldn’t risk it again. He had to be safe, before it was because he lived with Lance who was in the same kind of danger he was always in. Keith knew how dangerous his job could be but he couldn’t bring himself to care all that much about it because the thrill it gave him was worth it.

“I’m coming!” Keith shouted as he placed the jug of milk down on the counter beside his bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and the cereal box. Without a moment of hesitation he grabs his blade before heading towards the door, he needed to be sure that he was safe. 

The knocking stopped when Keith spoke to whoever was standing at the other side. Whoever it was understood the importance of being safe. After he could make it to the door he glanced out the peephole, a sense of relief immediately washed over him when he saw that it was indeed just Shiro knocking on the door to signal his arrival so he could be granted permission to enter his and Lance’s small two bedroom apartment.

He pulled back and opened the door. Keith smiled and without hesitation he pulled Shiro into a tight hug. “Come on in! Glad you’re finally here to help!” After a moment Shiro pulled away causing the hug to be dreadfully short lived as they usually were due to safety concerns… but the short hug did nothing to help with the panicking Keith was dealing poorly with. Keith knew by now that longer hugs were a safety hazard but right now he needed a good hug, he wanted to throw caution into the wind and be comforted so that he didn’t think about the fact that Lance was struggling through all of the changes that he was facing. 

  


“Hey Keith,” Shiro spoke softly, trying not to scare him. “Is Lance hiding from you in his room?” Shiro wouldn’t be too surprised if that’s the case, he had been like that when he had first turned and so had Matt… it was a common occurrence in fledglings. 

  


“Yeah, he seems really scared and overly concerned about my well being. I’m hoping that he will talk to you.” Keith was sincere as he brought Shiro up to date. “It sounded like he was throwing things back there, I wasn’t too sure what it was just that it was loud. He might’ve been crying but he won’t talk to me.” 

  


“Keith, I know this is tough for you but it’s a whole lot worse for him. I’m glad you’re keeping an eye on him. You should eat something and take a nap if you can.” Shiro showed both his concern for Keith’s well-being as well as Lance’s.

  


“Yeah, I couldn’t help but worry about him. I feel terrible that I couldn’t help him at all. Let me know if either of you need me.” Keith headed back to the kitchen leaning against the counter grabbing his bowl and spoon so that he could get something in his stomach. “I was already trying to eat before you showed up. Also sorry for almost brandishing my knife at you.” 

  


“I will but please try to get some rest. Between the two of us I hope we’ll be fine. Lance will worry less if you're taking care of yourself, and worrying isn’t good right now for either of you.” 

  


“Yeah, I know. But I can’t help but worry, so please keep me in the loop.” Keith nodded slightly as he spoke, eating as he watched Shiro. 

“I will. I’m going to Lance’s room, talk to him in his room. It’s the last room on the right side, it's the only shut door right?” Shiro didn’t spend a lot of time at their apartment, he tended to prefer more public places to avoid any chance of endangering them.

  


Keith nodded, pausing eating, so that he could give him a small grin. Keith just watched Shiro make his way to Lance’s bedroom door. 

Shiro knocked on Lance's door, it was loud enough that it echoed throughout the entirety of the small apartment. Lance hated the sound it made and the way the vibrations felt against his back… everything about what was happening seemed to get worse as it went. He couldn’t remember any time in his whole life when he had felt worse… Lance didn’t know how he could ever recover from this. 

  


Lance scrambled to stand up and brush himself off. “Stop knocking already. Damn, I have the headache of all headaches,” Lance growled from the other side of the door.

  


“Sorry Lance I didn’t realize you had a headache.” Shiro was sincere about it, he hadn’t intended to hurt Lance more then he already was. “I forgot how much changes when you first turn, sorry about that.” 

  


Lance let the door swing open, it nearly took out Shiro but he didn’t quite have it in him to be upset about it. (Even if it was at himself there was just too much going on right now.) “You’re fine, I’m not mad at you… an honest mistake, it could have happened to anyone.” He shrugged it off, he couldn’t let it get to him because if he let it that means it won and he lost… Lance couldn’t lose, no matter what the cost was.

  


Shiro smiled slightly. “Can I come in? I don’t think you want to talk about this in front of Keith. It’ll be easier if it’s just me and you, one on one.” Shiro was gentle, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited in front of his open door. Shiro had to ask to be sure that he wasn’t crossing any bounds. 

  


Lance gulped and stepped aside, his arm sweeping outward to show that he was allowed, it was a simple mockery of a grand gesture. “Yeah, sure you can come on in. It’s not like if I say no you will leave.” Lance shrugged his shoulders. “Might as well let you in so you don’t have to bother me.” 

  


Shiro nodded, choosing to bite his tongue rather than scold him, and walked into the other room. He took note of the disarray that Lance’s room was in, it was best to leave that alone for now. Shiro wasn’t about to judge how someone else copes with stuff especially when it was as big as this. 

  


Shiro took a deep breath. “Can I sit down?” He didn’t want to assume that he was allowed to just sit and if he was where he could sit. He would wait and whatever Lance said would be fine with him.

  


“Yeah, you can. The bed is fine. I’ll sit beside you on the other end.” Lance shrugs. “Sorry about the mess, I was making some rearrangements.” Lance was holding back the truth, he felt it was best if he kept this to himself. It would be fine that if just this once he didn’t share everything. 

  


Shiro sat down on the end of the bed that was closest to the door… he chose the spot he did so that if he had to make a quick escape he could with ease. Lance slammed the door shut behind them, the banging of the door was loud enough that it echoed throughout the entire apartment. Lance stomped over to the other end of his bed and flopped down beside Shiro. Lance tried to avoid touching Shiro at all, he tried to avoid as much physical contact as he could. 

  


“What do you want to talk to me about right now?” Lance grumbled, not quite ready to talk about all of the stuff that he has to deal with now. 

  


“You know what we have to talk about Lance.” Shiro was firm, leaving no room for any argument. 

  


“But, I don’t want to talk about it Shiro!” Lance whined, crossing his arms over his chest. 

  


“Lance, I’m sorry but we have to talk about it. If you don’t learn that makes you a hazard. That’s something that can’t happen for both your sake and mine.” 

  


“Okay, just take it slow, my head is still pounding.” Lance whimpered, pleading for something to be ignored. 

  


“Yeah, I can take it slow, make it easier for you to digest. I don’t want to overwhelm you, but you need to know. What do you want to start with?” 

  


“Hunger. The desire I have to feel Keith’s life force on my tongue.” Lance looked away, ashamed of how he was feeling… he felt like a threat, a predator towards his own friend in their own home. Lance was a good person, he didn’t deserve this. 

  


“I knew it probably wasn’t that great of an idea to send Keith home alone with you, Keith trusts you though, if he trusts you I will trust you as well.” Shiro paused for a moment. “Okay, are you feeling a little obsessive over him?” 

  


“In what manner? I don’t think I have but I could be completely wrong about this… this isn’t something that I have been through before.” Lance’s trademark snark making its first appearance of the night. Shiro hadn’t realized how much he had missed that faucet of Lance, it felt normal. 

  


Shiro just shook his head slightly. “Like you're the only one who should be able to feed off of him.”

  


“Yeah, that’s not how I’m feeling towards Keith at all! I mean yeah I want to feed off him again but I wouldn’t want to be the only one or anything like that. It’s way more complicated than that.” Lance kept his head hung, avoiding eye contact. “But at the same time I don’t want anything to happen to him. No matter what happened to him I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe. As much as I want to feed on him I also would do anything to keep him safe.” Lance glared across the room at a photo of him and his sisters. “It makes no sense. It’s like I can’t make up my mind about how I feel. They’re both opposite feelings and it makes me so confused and I hate it.” 

  


Shiro smiled slightly at Lance. “Yeah, that just means that you care a lot about him. Not that concerning. Lance that’s why Keith trusts you so much.” 

  


“I don't understand how he trusts me so much when I could literally kill him.” Lance sounded a little distressed from the thought.

  


“Lance, you could have killed him before. Even before the blood lust so be easy on yourself. Remember, you are a good man. You didn’t kill him before and you won’t now.”

  


“Thanks Shiro, that’s super helpful. I’ll be sure to remember that the next time Keith checks on me and I want to pounce on him.” Lance snapped at him. Lance wasn’t in the mood for any type of mind games right now.

  


“Okay, let’s talk about what you need to learn… and there’s a lot.” Shiro was trying to be gentle in a way to ease him into it like he had promised. “Any questions? I can try and start with more direct questions.”

  


“How often will I need to feed?” Lance asked, he needed to know so that he could be prepared and get a game plan of sorts. He needed to try and wrap his head around it and this seemed like this was the best way to go about it. 

  


“I need to feed a lot less then you would… as a fledgling you will need to feed once every few waking hours, maybe less.” Shiro paused for a moment. “Are you hungry again?”

  


“Yeah, I kinda am. Just getting hungry now. How long has it been?” Lance asked without missing a beat. 

  


“About five hours now. You’re holding out longer then most fledglings do, I think this is a good sign. Do you want to try to hold out a little longer? It will probably be harder from here on out but it’s all up to you.” Shiro emphasized the fact that Lance had all the cards up his sleeves.

  


Lance shrugged. “Waiting is fine. Unless I should feed to help with my focus otherwise I would much rather just avoid it for as long as I possibly can.” Lance paused briefly. “I guess I won’t be heading to class tomorrow.” Lance smirked as he shared the horrid joke… coping with bad humor is what Lance did best. 

  


“No it’s probably best if you don’t go for a week or two.” Shiro pauses for a moment. “You need to limit your time out in the sunlight… you can still go out in the sun but it will give some nasty burns.” He shrugs both of his shoulders. “A lot of people hide as deep in the shadows as they can.” 

  


Lance nodded. “No more beach days with my family. I’m going to miss those days a lot. Any stock in continuing to be religious?” Lance bit his lower lip slightly, he had a feeling that church was no longer in his future. He tried to pass the question off as a joke but he would be somewhat devastated with knowing, it would probably be best if he knew but at the same time he didn’t really want to know. 

  


“No, probably not. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news today.” Shiro was gentle, he felt bad about breaking the news to him. He knew that this actually mattered to him.

  


Even though Lance had expected the answer it still hurt. “That’s gonna make family visits hard.” 

  


“Yeah, I get that. I was turned during a pretty religious time in history. It didn’t look too good to be one of the few town’s people who didn’t step a single foot in a church building.” Shiro sounded remorseful even though he wasn’t at fault, it was like he would take away all of the pain this injustice was causing. 

  


“Will wearing a cross hurt?” Lance knew the answer but was curious to how Shiro would answer, would he try to spare Lance the gory details.

  


“Burns, it will burn your skin. The longer it’s in contact with your skin the more likely it is to leave a lasting scar, I don’t suggest risking it.” 

  


“Do you know from experience?” Lance was gentle as he asked curiously, he was curious to learn more about his mysterious friend. 

  


“Yeah, I have a couple of scars on my neck and chest area. They hurt for a long time but they eventually healed, it was not a pleasant experience.” 

  


“Did you know before that it would burn you?” Lance pried again out of curiosity, he was a little bit excited by the fact that Shiro might just tell him. 

  


“An extremist tied me up, weakened me, and forced me to wear a chain with a cross. I had to wear it for a few days. I was left for dead. Luckily I was at least left untied so I could get away to feed… it was a blood bath to say the least.” Shiro shuddered physically at the memory. “Sorry, it’s not my proudest moment, even now years later.” Shiro bit his lower lip, looking away from Lance tears brimming at the corner of his eyes. 

  


“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry too far!” Lance was firm, he really felt bad about that. “You could have told me ‘ _ no I don’t want to talk about it _ ’ and I would have left it alone!” 

Shiro shook his head slightly. “No, no you have every right to be curious just as I have the right to not answer. It’s not some big secret, just something I wouldn’t like to relive. I wouldn’t wish it on even my worst enemy.” 

“Thank you for telling me then!” Lance said as cheerfully as he could get. 

“Do you want to know anything else?” Shiro asked gently, trying to push Lance to ask more questions. “You can ask anything you want. This is a safe place, here with me.” 

  


Lance thought for a moment. “Can I know more details about feeding? I mean I’ll obviously need to go to the club tomorrow. But I want to know as much about the process as I can.” Lance paused for a moment before he continued, “And after that I have another question. If that’s okay?”

  


“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m going to go ahead and tell you the answer to that question so if I answer it with this one you don’t have to ask. Does that sound good?” 

  


Lance nodded and leaned forward to convey that he was listening closely. He really wanted to know more about what was happening to him. He hadn’t meant for the subconscious motion to be viewed as mocking, thankfully Shiro knew Lance was simply eager to know what was going on with him. 

  


“Okay, so your fangs will extend when it’s time to eat and it will sometimes extend when you get really hungry.” He took a moment to take a deep breath, he was telling Lance a lot in a quick session. “Your saliva will close wounds wounds on others but it won’t help if they’re too deep or they have already bleed out. If they’re already too far gone it won’t do any good.” He looks at Lance who was nodding with understanding. Shiro had a knowing look. 

  


“Kay. So, the next question is I accidentally cut my hand earlier and I just kinda watched it heal back up… good as new!” Lance paused for a moment. “Why’d that happen?” 

  


“Superficial wounds will close up. It’s a vampiric trait, it probably exists as a clotting agent of sorts so that we almost always heal. Also tends to prevent scarring so I guess that’s a double win.” Shiro was gentle, a small smile on his face. “You’re going to temporarily be extra sensitive to sound but that should go away relatively fast. I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t go away at least slightly.” 

  


“That reminds me. I have another question… if that’s alright?” Lance didn’t want to ask too much and upset Shiro. 

  


“Yeah, that’s fine. Like I said safe space, no limits. I’ll answer whatever you want to know.” 

  


“Why can I still see myself in the mirror? I thought we couldn’t see our reflection?”

  


“That’s both false and true. You can generally see your reflection unless it’s in an antique mirror or silver.” Shiro shrugged his shoulders slightly. “Most modern household mirrors are made using aluminum not silver. So typically you will be able to see yourself staring back at yourself from a mirror.” 

  


“That would’ve been great to know that earlier,” Lance grumbled grumpily to himself, his arms crossing over his chest. 

  


“Sorry, didn’t mean to just let that fall on you suddenly. That must’ve been a shock to you.” 

  


“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Lance’s anger quickly changed to a slight pout. 

  


“Are you hungry? Keith said he is willing to let you feed again. But only if you’re ready.” 

  


“Yeah, I’m hungry.” Lance nodded solemnly. “I’ll probably go to bed for the night… or should I say for the day?” Lance chuckled for a moment, that was a good joke on his part. 

  


“That sounds like a good idea. I’ll go grab Keith.” Shiro stood up and bounced out to the living room. 

  


Knowing that he was left alone, Lance curled in on himself as he was waiting for Shiro to return with Keith. He watched the doorway for both of them to appear. Lance wasn’t sure how he felt about Keith coming into his room but it was basically the only real choice that they had. Lance was a little nervous but they would be okay… they had to be because Lance wouldn’t allow it to end any other way. 

  


After a few moments Keith stood in the doorways with his arms crossed unsure on whether or not he should enter or if just walking in would be crossing some unspoken boundary. Keith was biding his time, watching and waiting for Lance to speak, to invite him in. Lance finally uncurled himself, his eyes not leaving Keith when he still felt like Keith was some kind of threat. 

  


Once he was sitting comfortably he nodded to Keith. “Come on in. thank you for waiting out there.” Lance crossed his legs underneath him, he leaned onto his legs, his elbows digging into his legs as he rested his chin in his hands. 

  


Keith walked in, taking his times… Lance knew that he didn’t didn’t mean anything by it but it still felt like an acknowledgement of the fact that Lance could kill him now with ease. That he was aware of the fact that Lance was some kind of monster. 

  


“Lance, can I sit down? It’ll make things a lot easier.” Keith’s voice was gentle as he asked. 

  


“Yeah, yeah you can go ahead and sit on the corner of the bed if you would like.” Lance moved his arm to the side, gesturing to where he could sit on the bed as he offered. “Sorry about that, I should’ve offered before.”

  


“You’re fine. Going through a lot, I understand completely.” Keith smiled slightly. 

  


Keith sat on the bed and offered his arm to him. Lance sprung on him, holding his wrist firmly to his mouth, his fangs extending into his arm. Lance sucked his blood, making quick work of his snack. Lance licked the wound so that it would heal right back up. 

The sting of fangs slipping into his flesh was something that he could never get used to even after working in the club for years. The thrill was still the same after all this time. Keith loved his job, mostly due to the thrill of the whole ordeal but the customers and his co-workers were another plus side to his job. 

  


Lance smiled at Keith widely, he flashed his still bloody teeth. “Thank you, Keith.” He licked the access blood off his lips and teeth, all the while staring at Keith. 

  


“Not a problem.” Keith nodded slightly. “I’m going to go ahead and go to my bedroom. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Keith smiled, standing up and heading across the hall. 

  


Lance watched Keith until he left his sight completely. Once he was able to relax he threw himself back onto his back, flipping onto his side so that he was staring at the wall so that he could will himself to sleep. It had been a long day and he needed this more than anything. 

  


He was going to take as much advantage of this as he could. He could use as much positivity as he could get. He let himself drift slowly to sleep.

  


Lance’s eyes blinked twice trying to rid himself of the early morning blur. He wasn’t ready to be awake quite yet. Lance wanted to get back to sleep but knowing him he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep anytime soon if he could at all… but he wasn’t going to let the possibility of not getting more sleep after this early rise drag him down. 

  


Lance curled deeper into his nest of blankets. The heat from his blankets only made him want to curl in deeper and never leave because he felt safe and warm right here and right now… it felt nice. 

  


After an hour or more of trying to get more sleep Lance decided that it was best to get up and do something and anything would do at this point. 

  


Keith had slept in his room and Shiro took the couch so that meant he couldn’t really leave his bedroom because if he did he would most likely get interrupted or annoyed by Shiro or even Keith if he was still awake right now. So he sat up and tried to figure out what he could do without leaving his room. 

  


Lance knew that he had a bookshelf in the corner of his bedroom, reading was a safe bet. He didn’t have to leave the room if he read one of the books he owned and borrowed from one of his friends and kept forgetting to return.

  


Lance rolled out of bed -he almost didn’t land on his feet and was lucky that it wasn’t noisy- fixing his hair absently, a nervous tick that he wasn’t sure when he developed it. He was slow, far from eager to sit and just read. Lance wasn’t too fond of just sitting and reading but not doing something would drive him crazy. Reading was the only option that wouldn’t draw any real attention to himself. 

  


Lance wanted something mind numbing, he was sure that he could handle one of the comics… that was sure to be a distraction enough. Comics could usually distract him, transport him into another universe… which was just what he needed right now a full blown distraction. 

  


Grabbing the comic volume that was the easiest for him to get lost in, it was a long time favorite of his, the volume was old and well loved, his mother or one of his many aunts had bought it for him as a gift… it was either for birthday or christmas but the context didn’t matter anymore. It was years ago but still one of the few books on the shelf that he treasured more than anything, so much that he wouldn’t let anyone touch it, wouldn’t even let anyone look at it… he would kill anyone who did so, at least with express permission from him. 

  


Lance flopped down on his bed reading the comic even though at this point he had the opening memorized. Reading it was a comfort to him so he’s read it at least half a dozen times by now and yet it never got old.

  


Once he got through the first act/book he rolled off the bed and headed to the bookshelf to put the book back in its place. It wasn’t quite enough to distract him for long but it was good enough for a minute. Lance looked at the shelf over, for a minute. Eventually he settled on one of the classics he somehow had on the shelf, it was as good as anything else that he had. 

  


Lance tried to let his brain get lost in the book, it wasn’t getting easier or harder for him to do. He couldn’t keep his mind from wandering. ‘ _ What couldn’t he remember? Why couldn’t he remember? _ ’ It wasn’t going to come to him if he just sat and thought about it! The whole ordeal was really just pissing him off. He couldn’t remember because he was inebriated… why did he have to be celebrating, now he thought it wasn’t such a good idea. It wasn’t even a good reason to celebrate. 

  


Lance put his book on the bedside table and traded it out for his cell phone. He played a matching video game. It was only eight or nine, maybe he could get more sleep after a few rounds. 


	5. A Happy Ending?

The week that Shiro stayed with them went well, almost too well. There wasn’t a hitch or a blip that would show that Lance needed more guidance. They decided that he was safe to be left alone in his house with Keith. 

If he was so  _ safe _ then why did their place look like a bloodbath. He shouldn’t have stayed with Keith, why did he let himself believe that he could ever be safe to stay with Keith. 

Panic bubbled in him so he called Shiro. Shiro could help him. Explaining this would be hard but he could do it, it would be okay Shiro wouldn’t be mad… or would he? Lance needed to do it, every being in him pleading with him to just call Shiro and turn Keith. He could do this, it was just like second nature, he already knew what to do. 

Keith wasn’t breathing, he had practically no heartbeat but it was just enough that this could work. What did he do? Keith and Shiro were going to hate him as much as he hated himself. But he couldn’t just let him die, he could never forgive himself if he didn’t try. 

He wiped his tears away. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.” He mumbled to Keith as he forced his blood into his veins. He cleaned off his face. “I’ll make sure it’s okay, I’ll make it up to you one day too.” 

He called Shiro, pleading for him to come. He needed him to come help him out… needed him to come stay with Keith so he could make a break. Shiro could adopt Keith under his wing and Lance could just leave and never be seen again. He couldn’t stay, not after this. 

Shiro answered on the second ring. “Lance? What is it?” He talked in a calm gentle tone. 

“I need you to come to the apartment. Hurry.” Lance urged before hanging up and focusing solely on Keith. 

Shiro knocked on the door, he knew it was Shiro… he didn’t know how he knew so he just accepted it as fact. “Come in Shiro.” He groaned forgetting about the inability to just enter a house that wasn’t there’s. 

Soon Shiro stood over his shoulder. “What happened?” Lance didn’t look at him, refused to see the anger, sadness, or pain in his eyes because he couldn’t handle that heartbreak… he just hurt Keith like he had tried to avoid. 

Lance knew that he shouldn’t have stayed why did he let himself talk himself into thinking that this would be okay. He should’ve known that he was a ticking time bomb, the only thing that was even sort of keeping him sane was Shiro’s presence near him. 

“I don’t know!” He tried to hide his face, his shame and general sadness causing a rift of sorts. “I can’t be here when he wakes up. I also don’t want him to fucking wake up alone!” Lance wiped his eyes, screaming at Shiro wasn’t in his plans.

“Did you already finish the process?” Shiro asked, blinking his eyes twice in surprise at the sudden outburst. “And  _ where _ will you go?” 

“Yes.” Lance nodded. “I think it’s best if you and Keith don’t know where I am. I don’t want you guys to come after me, it’s better if you don’t know.” 

Lance stormed off to his room to grab some clothes, the makeup and skincare stuff he had picked up to keep his facade of being healthy and fine. 

“Will you come back?” Shiro asked gently. He was still worried about his charge and friend. 

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Lance groaned outwardly. “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to waste anymore time worrying about me. Let me know if… I mean when he wakes up.” 

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll let him know when he wakes up that you're fine.” 

Lance was shocked that he wasn’t fighting harder to make him stay… it was probably because he knew that once Lance made up his mind about something there was nothing that he could do to stop him. Lance was running away from his problems and his friends. The damage was already done leaving wouldn’t have any effect on what was going to happen, all it was doing was delaying the inevitable.

Lance took his car, throwing about a week's worth of stuff in the backseat. If he needed more stuff he would just buy more or replacements he just needed to get out of there and fast. The faster the better. 

Lance drove to his sisters’ apartment, Racheal and Veronica were temporarily staying in the same apartment even though Veronica was never there opting to practically live with her girlfriend’s house. Lance looked down and looked at his shirt that was covered in Keith’s dry blood. Why hadn’t he remembered to change his shirt before he left? Why had Shiro not stopped him? The amount of blood was bad, it looked like he killed someone -which he did but that was beside the point- and he couldn’t draw attention to himself. Pulling on a navy blue sweater he had on the back of his passenger seat, not bothering to remove the ruined shirt. He would wash it later, by itself in hopes that it was still fine and wearable. 

Lance’s mind went through a list of things to remind himself that things were fine, he couldn’t go and knock on the door if he was shaking like a leaf without a convincing lie to explain it away. Keith would be fine, Lance left him in capable hands. Shiro could and would make sure Keith made the transition well, Lance trusted him. This was the only option he had, he prayed that he wouldn’t hurt one of his sisters… this would all be okay. Staying away was the only way to ensure that he didn’t hurt Keith during the transitional time, but even Lance’s self-assuredness that this was more for Keith then him, it was just as much about punishing him as it was for Keith. 

**_~~~_ **

Months pass without contact only a weak acknowledgment that Keith was fine and was doing good. Lance didn’t bother to respond, he only allowed himself the satisfaction of a small grin.

And yet Lance often -still- found himself outside of the club... hungry at the worst times. He was never going to get used to this, his new life. He missed the way he could spend time in the sun with ease but now if he spent any kind of time in the sun he would end up ill and fatigued... this was his childhood, he had always relished in the sun. He had always loved the beach and the water but that was no longer a real option. He was a fledgling, new to this life and already wishing that they had left him for dead. He had no clue why they had kept him alive if they would just abandon him before he even got the chance to actually live. There were a lot of things that Lance was still learning to deal with, he had no clue how he was supposed to handle it still. But being alone was working just fine for him. 

Even though he didn't actually feel cold the cold wind still bit at his neck and fingertips. Lance burrowed himself deeper into the hood of his navy blue hoodie so that it shielded his entire being from the attack of the bitter wind. Lance couldn't go in, he was sure to run into Keith and running into Keith was the last thing that he wanted or needed. It wasn't that he was avoiding just Keith, he didn't want to see Shiro either. He had disappointed himself; it didn't matter if they weren’t mad with him... he was plenty upset with himself. He was upset enough for the three of them.

Things got out of control, as they always did with Lance. Keith died, Lance was forced to turn him in order to save him. Lance wasn't ready to be a sire yet, he hardly knew what he was doing himself. Lance left his responsibility as a sire with the only person he really trusted -other than Keith. He knew that Shiro would take care of him, no matter what.

Lance could always tell that Keith was still alive, he could feel his life force from the moment his new lungs took a battered breath. It brought him solace when he was staying away from his friends. Lance chose to run off to stay with his sisters -mostly it was just his twin-, he had no real desire to feed off her which while he didn't understand he was choosing to see it as a gift. He had found a club that was similar to Midnight, it was a sister club and a whole lot closer to his sisters house. Even with Lance being half an hour or more away from his apartment, from Keith. Yet once every week he would stand outside the club in hopes that he would at least catch a brief glimpse at Keith, he would even settle for Shiro at this point. He just needed more proof that Keith was alive and well, no matter what Lance tried to tell himself it was... it was just getting harder to convince himself that he couldn't and shouldn't care what happened to him.

Lance cared so much about Keith, it had been like this before their accident. Lance noticed a few employees trickling out of the building, which meant it was time for him to go and make his escape before he could be noticed. He was sure that Shiro or Keith, maybe even both, knew that they were aware that he was out there because everytime he was out there he got proof of life from Keith and the usual daily dose of pleading for him to come back home. Lance couldn't come home, at least not quite yet.

Being away tragically didn't stop the panic, Lance knew Shiro could handle Keith even as a fledgling. He never knew how much that he needed to be involved with Keith, to perform his duties as Keith's sire, with the pull he felt towards Keith he couldn't understand why his actual sire hadn't tried to find him yet Shiro had claimed him… created a fake sire bond with him but he knew that it wouldn't and couldn't replace the original and official bond. Was his sire dead? Was his sire out there wishing he was dead, or that he had never even woke up? Lance wondered if he had messed up someone’s plan somehow? Lance felt like he had lost his only chance of belonging which sucked but he would get by… he always did. 

Lance panicked that he had been spotted so he took off to his car, an old beat up but reliable car, it looked in worse condition then it actually was in. On the outside it looked like it wouldn’t run but that’s to the rebuilt engine in the hood it ran brand new. Before he had received it as a gift at sixteen it had belong to one of his brothers or sisters -maybe an aunt or uncle- so there were rust spots and paint spots peeling showing that there were several different paint coats that had been on it but despite it’s clandestine looks it was still a great car with a lot of use and love left to give. Lance loved his car even though the looks of it almost always gave him away… it’s not like when he was around that he was trying to be stealthy or anything.

The hand on his shoulder as he went to open the door shocked him, Lance had prepared for a lot but for someone to actively seek out to communicate with him was one of the last things he was ready for… at least not yet that was much farther down on the timeline he was acting on. Making contact with him wasn’t for another one or two times that he showed up. 

Lance took a deep whiff to try and sniff out who’s hand was on him… it was Keith, he had mentally prepared for Shiro not Keith. This was wrong, he shouldn’t have come tonight. He took a deep breath to steady himself. 

“Lance, can we talk?” Keith asked tenderly. Lance knew if he looked back at Keith his eyes would be sparkling in the moonlight and he wouldn’t be able to say no… he could never deny Keith. 

“What is there to talk about Keith? I can’t come home yet. I’m not ready!” Lance’s voice cracked towards the end of the statement. It was true, he wasn’t ready yet but he was prepared to throw that all away if Keith asked him 

Lance would deny… deny until there was no more breath in his lungs to deny. He needed to go home and be with Keith but he was punishing himself for not being stronger… for ruining Keith’s life the way he had ended it. 

**_~~~~_ **

Lance stayed with his sister for about a month, he was safe there. He didn’t go back to the club that Keith and Shiro worked at. He had to keep it in his mind that Keith was fine even though he had a nagging feeling in the back of his head, a feeling that he needed to be back at home with Keith. The worrying feeling would never go away as long as he didn’t know how Keith was. It was a more intense emotion then he had felt in a long time. 

He had to go home, he had no real choice but to go this time. His heart felt like something was being ripped out of him, breaking his heart and hurting every part of his being. Something was wrong with Keith, he needed to get to Keith fast. As soon as he knew what he felt, he knew that he needed to leave, he got up and went, not bothering to leave anything for his sisters’ they would text him later asking where he was when they realized he had left without all the stuff he had brought with him. 

Lance drove to their apartment, he wasn’t sure why but that’s where he felt he needed to go. He was glad that he followed his gut because he got there in time to break up a fight between Keith and an unknown lady. She was wearing a red cloak with a hood covering her head and most of her face, her clothes all black, topped with black leather gloves. She wasn’t about to get recognized today

“Hey, get off and leave!” Lance shouted. 

“And who are you? His boyfriend?” The lady had a slight smirk on her face that said she knew something that Lance didn’t. He couldn’t recognize her voice or anything about her.

“I live here and I really think you should see your way out,” Lance paused his sentence with a crack of his knuckles, “before I help you.” 

The woman looked him in his eyes, laughed and threw a right hook that made contact with his jaw. Lance growled slightly, he didn’t exactly want to fight a girl but he didn’t really have any choice but to otherwise he would be all talk and no bite beside Keith was hurt. 

Lance looked at Keith, panic clear in his eyes as he kicked her away. His hands up ready to block or defend himself from her onslaught of attacks or that were sure to come. She was in there fighting with Keith so she was sure to be a danger. But he didn’t know if he was just being pulled to Keith… was this his Sire, his purpose for being turned.

“Leave, now!” Lance said again, this time he was more firm about it. He was trying to leave no room for argument but knew he wasn’t coming across as strong as he could. 

The woman chuckles slightly. “I think I have enough.” Before turning and walking out of the open door. 

Lance ran over to Keith dropping to his side. “Hey man are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” He groans sitting up. “Nothing lasting, thankfully but just achy. You staying?”

“Yeah, apparently you get in too much trouble when I stay away. What was that about?” Lance asked. 

“I don’t really know… she just kinda attacked me.” Keith shrugs, trying to brush it off and not let Lance worry about him. 

“Seriously? If you won’t talk to me about it I’ll call Shiro and make you talk to him.” 

“No! Not Shiro!” Keith groaned. “It’s not a big deal. I’m fine you came back.” 

“Yeah it is Keith. Like it was in our apartment too.” Lance was irritated with Keith’s bullshit. He shouldn’t have to deal with it. “Did you do something?” 

Keith just stared at him saying absolutely nothing. 

  
  
  


“C’mon Keith, buddy. Say something, anything. Dammit!” Lance groaned crossing his arms over his chest as he tapped his toes. “I’m not mad, just worried.”

“I really don’t know. Let’s just not talk about it. She was looking for someone or something.” He shrugged heading back to his room. “You don’t get to disappear for months and then show back up and pretend to be all worried.”

“I fucking left to make sure you would be okay! I couldn’t stay because I was scared and worried.” Lance shouted, clearly upset about being called out. “Don’t just walk away.” 

“Shut up Lance I don’t want to hear you out, I am not down to have this conversation so just save your breath damn it.” Keith growled at him. “I’m going to my room, I will talk to you later when I’ve rested.” 

“Fine, I’ll talk to you later whatever.” Lance’s voice softens, “just so you know I care about you.” 

“I know Lance and that’s why this hurts damn it.” Keith turned around glaring at him. 

“I never meant to hurt you damn it! I literally have done everything possible to not hurt you and I still fucking hurt you.” Lance looked away. “I’m sorry about that Keith.” 

“I don’t want to talk about it. You left, I don’t owe you a conversation about how much you have hurt me.” 

“I can wait to talk to you. Good night, I’ll be in my room if you need me.” Lance flashed a weak smile, trying not to think about it too much. 

“Night Lance, please lock up before you go to bed. Thank you.” Keith locked himself into his room. 

Lance locked up before heading into his room for the night.

**_~~~~~_ **

Day came and went and Lance was so stuck in his head that he pulled an all-nighter. He had to think about what he would talk to Keith about and how he could explain what was happening in his head. This wasn’t going to end well. He was sure to be kicked out of his own home and he would be okay with that, he deserved that. 

Lance sat down in the living room, waiting for Keith to walk out… to go into the living room to talk to him. Keith would have to go in the living room eventually but that would be fine. Lance could wait however long it took, Keith would be worth waiting for. He would always wait for Keith, no matter how long it would take. 

Keith eventually goes into the living room and sits down beside Lance. He was silent as if he didn’t want to draw Lance’s attention. Lance didn’t want to talk about this anymore then Keith did, it was a lot to talk about and think about. 

Keith sighed, breaking the silence and then he decided that he should say something and get this over with, “I don’t want to talk about this but we probably should… it would help us heal or whatever. Matt would have something stupid and cheesey to say.” 

Lance chuckled softly. “Shiro would have something to say too. Probably tell us that we are being unreasonable or stupid.” He shook his head slightly at the thought. “Where do you want to start?”

“Why did you leave? I expected you to break and I wasn’t going to be upset if you did. But you broke and ran away. Lance you abandoned me, you did what your sire did.” Keith looked at him with teary eyes. 

“No! I did not! You are looking at it from one perspective. I left you with Shiro because I was in no place to be taking care of you as well and myself! I knew Shiro would be able to take care of you better than I could, he could get you on your feet.” He took a deep breath, paying for a moment before continuing on, “I did what I thought was best for you. I knew that if I stayed until you woke up that I wouldn’t be able to leave.”

“I wish you didn’t leave, I wouldn’t have been upset if Shiro was in charge of the two of us.” 

“I needed to leave to get myself together. Can you tell me about the girl?”

“I was trying to get you to come back so I did some stupid things. Not really sure who she was or what she was doing with me but she definitely attacked me for no real reason.” Keith had a slight smile as he shrugged. “I’m sorry.” 

“You could’ve called me. You’re a disastrous idiot.” Lance chuckled and looked at him with love filled eyes.

Keith blushed looking away. “It’s not the same Lance.” 

Lance smiled at him. “I know but it’s something. It’s more than just texts.” 

“I know.” Keith was quiet and stopped responding. “I just- I missed you and I was worried about you.”

“I worried and missed you too but I could feel you so that made me feel kinda okay.” Lance grabbed his hand to try and get his attention. “I care about you, I always have Keith and I tried so hard not to hurt you and doing what I did hurt you more.” 

Keith smiled. “I care about you too. I mean if I didn’t I wouldn’t have bailed you out all the times I did.”

Lance laughed and leaned onto his shoulder and decided to shoot his shot and kiss his cheek. Keith grinned and decided that giving Lance a real kiss was a great idea. 

Keith was kissing him. Keith was kissing him with soft lips. Keith was kissing him with soft lips and he was kissing him back. Lance didn’t want it to stop. Lance was in love with him and had been for awhile and Keith was here, in his arms and he was falling apart. Lance didn’t want this to stop. 

“Could we do that again?” Lance asked, breathing was hard for him. That was straight forward. 

Keith nodded. “Yeah, yeah I would like that.” He covered his face in his hand. 

Lance snuggled up to him. “We have awhile to make this right, all our mistakes and I will use that to my advantage.”

“You don’t have to make this right. I was never upset with you. As long as you don’t leave again.”

“Nah, you’re stuck with me.” Lance smirked, kissing his cheek again. 


End file.
